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Kenneth Hardin Jr. pleaded guilty to felony murder on Monday, June 23, 2025, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his wife, Carrie Hardin, at their home in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Hardin never went to trial. He also pleaded guilty to concealing the death of another and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Judge Kreuziger imposed a concurrent 10-year term for concealing the death and a consecutive 5-year term for the firearm count. When Hardin asked for mercy, the judge told him the mercy he was asking for was the mercy he should have shown his wife. Carrie Hardin's mother, Yvonne Smith, addressed the court by webcam. Hardin's father testified that he now lives in the home and has custody of the couple's two boys.

Kenneth Hardin, 39, and Carrie Hardin, 40, lived with their sons, then 8 and 11, in a gated home on Merlin Court in Fayetteville, Fayette County, Georgia. Carrie was a registered nurse who owned a nurse staffing business. Kenneth was described as a minister and street preacher. Carrie had told a friend she had accepted a nursing position at a VA hospital out of state and planned to leave with the boys.

Early on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, Hardin shot his wife at the home. An autopsy found nine gunshot wounds to her chest, torso and arms. Investigators said blood stains showed he had tried to scrub her blood from the carpet. They said he tried to burn her body in a pit, then buried her remains in a shallow grave in the wooded area behind the house.

Hardin asked his father to fly to Georgia. On Wednesday morning, August 21, 2024, he told family members he had killed his wife in self-defense and was leaving town. His father reported it to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. Deputies went to the house, where a cadaver dog led them to Carrie Hardin's partially burned remains. Hardin had already left in a white Cadillac.

Fayette County deputies worked with the Louisiana State Police and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office to track the car to Covington, Louisiana. A SWAT team arrested Hardin in his motel room. He was held in the St. Tammany Parish jail pending extradition.

Fayette County investigators traveled to Louisiana to question him. In the recorded interview, Hardin says he wants to explain, admits shooting his wife and says he acted in self-defense. A Fayette County sergeant later testified that Hardin admitted shooting her after she threatened to leave him and take their sons.

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Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.